


Transfiguration and an Owl

by xAoneko



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Chanyeol speaks before he thinks, Fluff, M/M, Meokmul and Vivi are owls, Oblivious Byun Baekhyun, Oh Sehun is a Brat, Shy Do Kyungsoo | D.O
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:46:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22783528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xAoneko/pseuds/xAoneko
Summary: Every single week since his seventh year started, Baekhyun has been getting his favorite snacks delivered to him by an owl he doesn’t know. He wonders who’s sending him all the food until one day, he sees the owl go back to his owner.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Do Kyungsoo | D.O
Comments: 22
Kudos: 128
Collections: Wingarbyun Leviosa (Round 1)





	Transfiguration and an Owl

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt R1-069 written for Wingarbyun Leviosa
> 
> A/N: To the readers, I enjoyed writing this fic and hope that you guys enjoy reading it! To the prompter, thank you for coming up with such a cute idea for Baeksoo! I hope this fic is close to what you had in mind when you submitted your prompt :3

Baekhyun cursed the day he decided to become a magizoologist. He really should have just stuck with being a professional Quidditch player, or an employee at Honeydukes, or even a singer at some dingy bar in an alley. At least that way, he wouldn’t have to worry about taking five N.E.W.T.s in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts. He could understand why he needed to take the exams for Care of Magical Creatures and Charms. In fact, he was prepared to take those N.E.W.T.s without complaint. He grumbled a little when his Head of House told him that N.E.W.T.s were required for Potions and Herbology as well but figured that if he were to take care of magical creatures, then he would need to know what plants he needed and how to brew a healing potion in case of emergencies, so he grudgingly accepted those as well.

However, the one N.E.W.T. he couldn’t wrap his head around was Transfiguration. Why would he need to remember how to turn a raven into a goblet? He was pretty certain that there wouldn’t ever be a time when he would need to transfigure a Fire Crab into a cup. Was it even legal to transfigure a magical creature into an object? He would have to review the magical creature laws later.

It didn’t help that Transfiguration had suddenly become his worst subject, which didn’t make sense to him because he passed his O.W.L.s with an easy Exceeds Expectations. The class should be a breeze, yet Baekhyun was now struggling with the N.E.W.T. spells. The only reason he wasn’t completely failing was because his best friend Chanyeol was a Transfiguration genius and was happy to help carry Baekhyun’s sorry ass through the entirety of their sixth year. Baekhyun appreciated Chanyeol’s efforts, but he knew that he couldn’t rely on his friend forever. He needed to learn the material in a way that ensured he would retain it, but he didn’t know anyone who could teach him Transfiguration besides Chanyeol. However, Chanyeol wasn’t good at simplifying things, and Baekhyun needed someone to dumb down the concepts so they would be easier to digest. Therefore, he grew more and more desperate each day, and it was only adding to the pile of stress from the other N.E.W.T.s.

Baekhyun heaved a sigh as he dropped his bag and sat in an empty seat next to Chanyeol, not bothering to greet his friend as he snatched a roasted chicken leg from the plate in front of him. As though sensing his agitation, Chanyeol didn’t say anything, merely grabbing a bread roll from a platter farther down the table and putting it on Baekhyun’s plate.

They ate quietly, uninterrupted until the owls came swooping into the Great Hall. Baekhyun pushed some of the plates aside for his owl Bobohu, who landed in the empty space and stuck out his leg to let Baekhyun untie the parchment attached to his leg. Once Bobohu was relieved of his burden, he flew off with an affectionate nip of Baekhyun’s nose and a large piece of chicken in his beak.

Not long after Bobohu left, another owl took his spot and dropped a package in Baekhyun’s lap. Baekhyun stopped chewing on his food, staring at the black barn owl that was currently fixing him with its piercing gaze.

Baekhyun had no idea who the owl belonged to. He had first seen it two weeks ago when it had flown in with the other owls and dropped an unknown parcel onto his plate of cherry pie. Then, he saw it again just last week when it had swooped over him, smacked him in the head with another package, and hooted at him before flying off. Baekhyun had tried to see if the owl would return to its owner, but to his disappointment, the owl had merely taken off out of the Great Hall and headed in the direction of the owlery.

Now, Baekhyun leaned towards the owl with a scrutinizing gaze, not caring that the owl was trying to lean away. “Who sent you?” Baekhyun muttered under his breath with such an intensity that it was as if he expected the owl to answer.

The owl hooted at him before spreading its wings – smacking Baekhyun in the face in the process – and taking off. Again, Baekhyun watched it go in hopes of catching a glimpse of its owner, but the owl swooped out of the Great Hall and vanished.

Disgruntled, Baekhyun turned to the package and proceeded to tear off the paper. Just like with the previous two packages, he found himself with a lapful of his favorite snacks, and just like with the previous two packages, Baekhyun wasn’t planning on eating them, fearing that the unknown sender was trying to hex him by tempting his stomach. He was well aware that there were quite a few people in the school who disliked him, so he was going to throw out the snacks as soon as he got the chance.

Next to him, Chanyeol watched as Baekhyun put the snacks away. “You’re not going to eat them?” he asked.

“Of course not,” Baekhyun said, helping himself to a second chicken leg.

Chanyeol frowned. “But that’s such a waste of food.”

“Well, I’d rather waste the food than risk getting hexed.”

For a few seconds, Chanyeol silently bit his lip. Then, he grabbed his bag and opened it, holding it out and gesturing at Baekhyun. “Give them to me.”

Baekhyun lowered his chicken leg. “Huh?”

Chanyeol shook his bag. “Give me the snacks. I’ll eat them if you won’t.”

“You might get hexed,” Baekhyun argued, but he reached into his bag and began to pull out the snacks anyway.

Chanyeol shrugged. “I can handle it. Besides, I doubt anyone would dare to use a curse that would cause lasting damage.”

They stared at each other for a moment longer. Baekhyun’s hand hovered in midair, clutching a few chocolate frogs, as he contemplated whether or not he should give Chanyeol the food. He thought Chanyeol did have somewhat of a point. In addition to that, Chanyeol’s father was a specialist in studying and breaking curses, and Chanyeol himself excelled at Defense Against the Dark Arts. It would be difficult for any hidden spells to sneak past members of the Park family.

Somewhat reassured, Baekhyun dumped the handful of chocolate frogs into Chanyeol’s bag and reached into his own to scoop out more. “Fine. If you get hexed, don’t blame me.”

“I know, I know,” Chanyeol grumbled, closing his bag once Baekhyun had transferred all the snacks and turned back to his meal. “By the way, are you still looking for someone to tutor you in Transfiguration?”

Baekhyun swallowed a mouthful of chicken. “Do you know someone?”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol said, “He’s not someone in our House though. He’s a Slytherin. Sixth-year. Have you heard of Do Kyungsoo?”

Baekhyun thought hard, furrowing his eyebrows and pushing his mouth into a pout. “I think so? How is a sixth-year going to help me though? I’m in my last year.”

“Because you don’t even understand the fundamentals of N.E.W.T.-level Transfiguration,” Chanyeol said bluntly, “and we learned that last year. Having someone who is currently studying the fundamentals teach you would help you best.”

Baekhyun couldn’t argue with that, but there was another issue. “Okay, but does this Do Kyungsoo actually understand what’s going on in Transfiguration? He wouldn’t have had Professor McGonagall, and the new professor isn’t very good at teaching N.E.W.T.-level Transfiguration.”

“Kyungsoo’s older brother, Seungsoo, took Transfiguration with McGonagall, and he lent Kyungsoo his notes after hearing what a bad teacher the new professor is. If you let Kyungsoo tutor you, then he might let you use Seungsoo’s notes.” Chanyeol took a sip of his pumpkin juice. “Then again, that’s up to you. I think it’s worth trying, at least.”

Baekhyun chewed on the inside of his cheek as he considered his options. There really wasn’t anything to lose if he agreed to tutoring from Do Kyungsoo, and Seungsoo’s notes sounded like a godsend.

“Alright, can you point out Kyungsoo to me?” Baekhyun asked, “I’ll ask him and see if he can tutor me.”

“It might be better if I ask him for you,” Chanyeol said, “He’s shy around strangers, so he’s more likely to say yes if I ask him. Besides, I’ll see him soon anyway on the Quidditch pitch.”

Baekhyun agreed to let Chanyeol ask for him but was surprised to hear that Chanyeol was going to practice with someone from another House. “You don’t practice with our House’s Quidditch team?”

“I do,” Chanyeol explained, “but Kyungsoo doesn’t play Quidditch. He’s more of the type to fly for fun, and I met him last year while he was out at the pitch. I’m just teaching him some basic Quidditch.” Stuffing a last spoonful of peas into his mouth, Chanyeol stood up and grabbed his bag. “I’m gonna get going now. I’ll come find you tonight and let you know what he says.”

Sure enough, Chanyeol came trudging back to their dormitory that evening after dinner, tossing his bag next to the foot of his bed before throwing himself down on the mattress with a sigh. Baekhyun put away his Herbology notes, tucking them into the textbook that he pushed off to the side, and turned to Chanyeol.

“You’ve been out for the entire afternoon. Was it fun?”

“Very,” Chanyeol groaned as he heaved himself up to rummage through his bag. “It feels good to fly around and have a casual match against friends after the summer break.” He pulled out a chocolate frog and ate it, humming in appreciation.

Baekhyun, however, stared in disbelief. “Is that one of the frogs I gave you? Have you even checked to see if it was hexed?”

“It’s fine!” Chanyeol protested, “I checked it, Kyungsoo checked it, and I had one when we were out at the Quidditch field. It’s safe!” He took another one out and offered it to Baekhyun, who eyed it suspiciously before finally accepting it.

The frog tried to flee when Baekhyun opened the box, but he managed to snatch it out of the air with lightning reflexes before it could get away. Quickly shoving it into his mouth, Baekhyun chewed it so that it would stop squirming around, letting his guard down so that he could savor the creamy sweetness of the milk chocolate without the worry of falling victim to some hex.

“By the way,” Chanyeol said, “Kyungsoo said that he’s willing to tutor you. He’s free on Sundays, so if you’re still interested in that tutoring, you could meet him in the library on Sunday afternoon. He’s a short guy with big eyes and glasses.”

When Sunday rolled around, Baekhyun followed Chanyeol’s instructions and headed to the library, carefully treading through the bookshelves under the hawk eyes of Madam Pince as he searched for a Slytherin with big eyes and glasses. He found someone who fit the description within a few minutes and approached the student’s table, reaching out to tap the other on the shoulder.

“Are you Do Kyungsoo?” Baekhyun asked when the student turned to look up at him.

The other shook his head, but a deep voice from a nearby table called out, “I’m Do Kyungsoo.”

Baekhyun looked up to see another Slytherin staring at him from a table by the wall. He quickly murmured an apology to Not-Kyungsoo and headed over to the other table, stopping just across from the person he was looking for.

“Hi,” he started, fidgeting with the straps of his bag as Kyungsoo eyed him. “Um …I’m Baekhyun. I think Chanyeol probably told you that I need help with Transfiguration?”

“He did,” Kyungsoo replied, pushing aside some of the books on the table to invite Baekhyun to sit. “I’ve made copies of my brother’s notes from back when Professor McGonagall still taught Transfiguration. I hope they’ll help.” He reached into his bag as he spoke, rifling through the contents before pulling out a thick notebook and offering it to Baekhyun.

Baekhyun accepted it, staring at the notebook in awe. “You made copies of _everything_?” he asked, flipping through the pages. Kyungsoo’s neat handwriting filled every page, carefully detailing advanced theories and practices. There were even extra sheets of parchment carefully taped to some of the pages, allowing room for even more notes and examples to act as supplemental material. Once he had finished scanning the notes, Baekhyun raised his head to give Kyungsoo a look of admiration. “This is _amazing_! I can’t believe you managed to put this together in four days!”

At that, Kyungsoo laughed. It wasn’t a loud laugh that would turn heads but rather a quiet and embarrassed chuckle. “It really isn’t much,” he said as he twisted his fingers anxiously, “All I did was charm two quills to copy the notes.”

“That’s still really nice of you,” Baekhyun answered, “I think you saved my future career and probably my life as well. Thanks a lot. Really.” When it looked like Kyungsoo was too shy to respond, Baekhyun shifted in his chair and asked, “Is it okay if I study here with you? Chanyeol and his friend Jongdae are in the dormitory, and I won’t be able to focus with their noise.”

Kyungsoo shook his head. “I don’t mind.”

Baekhyun smiled and began pulling out his notes and quills and flipping to the first page of Seungsoo’s Transfiguration notes. “So Kyungsoo, what career are you thinking of? I can’t imagine anyone taking Transfiguration of their own free will these days.”

Kyungsoo had looked startled at first, like he didn’t expect Baekhyun to keep talking to him, but he recovered quickly and answered, “I want to join the Ministry of Magic.”

“Oh, I see.” Baekhyun had guessed that that was what Kyungsoo wanted to do since the Ministry of Magic required high scores in almost all N.E.W.T. exams from its applicants. “Which department do you want to join?”

“Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.”

“That’s cool. So you’re going to be handling the witches and wizards who get too ahead of themselves, right?” Baekhyun would never be able to do that, especially since he would often be one of the wizards causing a catastrophe.

Kyungsoo nodded. “What about you?”

Baekhyun puffed out his chest. “I’m going to be a magizoologist,” he said, “Did you know that bowtruckles will inhabit trees that can be used to make wands?”

“No, I didn’t,” Kyungsoo answered, a slight smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. “But if you’re going to be a magizoologist, why are you taking the N.E.W.T. for Transfiguration?”

“Oh, man, I don’t even know,” Baekhyun groaned a little too loudly, making Madam Pince look up and glare at him. Baekhyun ducked his head and lowered his voice. “I spoke to the Headmistress about it, and it’s apparently required to become a magizoologist. She also said that the mandatory N.E.W.T.s for magizoologists will change in a couple years, so they might take off Transfiguration.” He sighed, shaking his head as he scanned the contents of the first page of the Transfiguration notes. “Man, I was born a couple years too early.”

A huff of laughter escaped Kyungsoo, and he quickly hid behind his book, shoulders shaking in his attempts to muffle the sound. Baekhyun grinned and turned back to the notes.

“Is it okay if I write in this?” He raised the Transfiguration notebook.

Having recovered from his laughing bout, Kyungsoo cleared his throat. “Yes, yes, go ahead. It’s yours now anyway.”

“Sweet.”

The two of them fell into a comfortable silence, too preoccupied with their own material to continue the conversation. For an hour, the only sound that came from their table was the sound of quills scratching on parchment and shuffling of paper.

After a while, Baekhyun circled a concept in the notebook and scooted closer to Kyungsoo. “Kyungsoo, do you understand this?” he whispered, leaning over to show Kyungsoo the notes.

Kyungsoo adjusted his glasses. “No, we haven’t gotten that far yet,” he replied, “Sorry.”

“That’s alright,” Baekhyun said, “I can ask Chanyeol.” He closed the notebook and began gathering his things. “Speaking of which, I should probably go now. I promised Chanyeol that I’d help him with Potions.”

“Okay.” Kyungsoo watched him stand. “Are my brother’s notes helpful?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely!” Baekhyun grinned, “They’re much better than sitting in class and listening to the professor. Thanks again for the notes, by the way. Would you like to meet here again next Sunday?”

“Sure,” Kyungsoo smiled, raising his hand in a small wave. “See you next week.”

Five days later, Baekhyun was sitting next to Chanyeol in the Great Hall when the mysterious black barn owl dropped a parcel on his lap again. This time, Baekhyun tried to catch the owl before it could fly away but regretted it immediately when the owl bit him on the finger.

Nursing his wounded finger, Baekhyun ignored Chanyeol’s obnoxious laughter and directed his attention to opening the package. Once again, the sight of his favorite snacks greeted him as he tore apart the brown paper.

“Oh, come on! Who keeps sending me this stuff?” Baekhyun complained as he picked up a bag of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, turning it over and inspecting it as though the sender would have left a secret message to their identity. “I know it’s not you,” Baekhyun added, glancing at Chanyeol, who was looking at him with an amused smile. “Your family doesn’t own any black barn owls that are vicious little beasts.”

“Hey, it’s your fault for trying to grab Meokmul like that,” Chanyeol retorted, “What sort of owl would like being manhandled?”

At that, Baekhyun whipped around to stare at Chanyeol, who seemed to realize that he had said something he shouldn’t have. Baekhyun dropped the Every Flavor Beans back onto the pile of snacks and rested his chin on his palm, watching Chanyeol squirm in his seat.

“So,” Baekhyun started, “Meokmul, huh?”

Chanyeol’s eyes darted up to meet Baekhyun’s gaze before swiftly dropping back down. Grabbing his spoon, Chanyeol quickly shoved some beef stew into his mouth as though it would stave off the impending interrogation. Sadly, Baekhyun wasn’t going to back off so easily.

“You know the person who has been sending me these snacks,” Baekhyun said, tugging on Chanyeol’s elbow and forcing his friend to pay attention to him. “You know them well, too, if you know their owl’s name and can recognize their owl from the other black barn owls in this school. I bet you didn’t even check to see if last week’s snacks were cursed or asked Kyungsoo to check them. You knew they weren’t cursed from the beginning.”

It might have been the light in his eyes, but he could have sworn he saw a bead of sweat trickle down Chanyeol’s forehead.

“So? Who is it?” Baekhyun pressed.

Chanyeol swallowed. “I can’t–I promised not to tell. He’ll strangle me if I tell.”

“Oh, so it’s a ‘he.’” Baekhyun raised an eyebrow and smirked.

Chanyeol swore and swiftly shoved another spoonful of stew into his mouth.

Upon seeing his friend’s bumbling state, Baekhyun decided to be merciful. “Okay, so if you can’t tell me who he is, then can you at least tell me why he’s sending me snacks and how he knows these are my favorite?”

Chanyeol’s chewing slowed, and Baekhyun knew he had won.

“He knows that those are your favorite since I told him,” Chanyeol explained, “And he’s sending you snacks because…uh…he might–he might have a crush on you and is too scared to tell you directly.”

Baekhyun’s mind went blank, and he gaped at Chanyeol. He had been expecting a different answer. Maybe Chanyeol’s friend’s family kept sending the snacks, and the friend was just looking for a way to get rid of some of it. If that had been the case, then Baekhyun would have gladly taken the snacks, but it turned out that one of Chanyeol’s friends had a crush on him, and Baekhyun had no idea how to react.

“Are you serious?” he finally asked after getting past his initial shock. He knew that Chanyeol was telling the truth though. His friend had no lying skills whatsoever.

Once Chanyeol had nodded to confirm that he was serious, Baekhyun couldn’t help preening a little. After all, who wouldn’t be flattered to hear that someone found them attractive?

Baekhyun licked his lips, edging closer to Chanyeol. “Are you sure you can’t tell me who it is?” he wheedled.

To his disappointment, Chanyeol stood firm with his previous answer, saying he liked being able to breathe, thank you very much. Therefore, Baekhyun had to figure out who it was by himself, using the bits of information that Chanyeol had accidentally spilled in their conversation.

His first suspect was a Gryffindor named Kim Jongdae, but he quickly figured that Jongdae couldn’t be the one sending the snacks. He had seen Jongdae confess his feelings to a girl once and knew that Jongdae wasn’t the type to hide behind secret packages. If Jongdae had something he wanted to say, he would say it to Baekhyun’s face.

Baekhyun’s next guess was a fifth-year Hufflepuff called Kim Jongin. Being friends with both Chanyeol and Baekhyun, Jongin fit the image Baekhyun had of the secret admirer: extremely shy and soft-spoken but would have no problem grabbing Chanyeol in a headlock if agitated enough, so Baekhyun did what he thought was best in the situation.

He cornered Jongin in the boys’ bathroom and asked, “Have you been sending me snacks?”

Jongin tilted his head to one side. “What snacks?”

“The snacks that I’ve been getting from a black owl ever since term started.”

Jongin shook his head. “Hyung, I don’t have an owl. I always borrow Vivi from Sehunnie whenever I need to send a letter.”

Baekhyun squinted at the other, trying to figure out if Jongin was telling the truth. He didn’t sense a lie from Jongin’s sentence, but there was something about the way the younger student fidgeted that set off Baekhyun’s radar.

“I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me though,” he said.

Jongin’s fidgeting got worse, and Baekhyun was about to backtrack and tell the other to forget it when Jongin blurted out, “I’m sorry I broke your quill! I couldn’t find mine, so Chanyeol-hyung gave me one of yours to use, but I sat on it by accident and it snapped and I ordered a replacement but it won’t come in until next week so–!”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Baekhyun interrupted Jongin’s rambling. “You broke one of my quills? When?”

Jongin hung his head. “The day before yesterday.”

At that moment, Jongin looked like a kitten that someone had left out in the rain, so Baekhyun sighed and reached up to pat Jongin on the head. “It’s okay, Nini, it’s just a quill. I have a lot of those, and they’re cheap.”

In the end, Baekhyun let Jongin go after reassuring the latter that he wasn’t upset. Once the younger Hufflepuff had disappeared around the corner, Baekhyun frowned and rubbed at the back of his neck, trying to think of who else could possibly have a crush on him.

There was another student whom Chanyeol was good friends with, but Baekhyun didn’t think that the fifth-year Slytherin called Oh Sehun had the ability to develop a crush. He had never seen Sehun act shy towards one specific person or go on and on about someone in a conversation like Chanyeol had done back when he had a crush on a Ravenclaw named Kim Junmyeon. On the contrary, Sehun seemed more like the type of person who would sit back with a bowl of popcorn and watch his friends stumble over weak attempts at wooing their crushes, laughing and choking on the buttery snack whenever his friends embarrassed themselves with awkward stuttering and bad puns.

Unfortunately, that left Baekhyun with no other possible candidates, and it frustrated him to no end because Chanyeol was back to snickering at his failed attempts to find his secret admirer.

Several weeks later, even Kyungsoo had noticed how distracted Baekhyun was during their study sessions, and by then, the two of them had gotten comfortable enough around each other that Kyungsoo had no qualms about telling Baekhyun that he was making too much noise.

“What’s wrong with you?” Kyungsoo asked, lowering his quill and fixing Baekhyun with a dead stare after several minutes of listening to Baekhyun’s foot tapping on the library floor. “It usually takes you two to three hours before you lose focus, but today you can’t even stay focused for five minutes. Shouldn’t you be catching up on two years’ worth of Transfiguration?”

Baekhyun laughed sheepishly and crossed his ankles so he could resist the urge to fidget. Muttering an apology, he turned back to his notes, but Kyungsoo wasn’t done.

“Has the stress been getting to you?” the Slytherin asked, “I know that you’re doing a lot of catch-up in Transfiguration, so maybe we should work out a different study plan for you.”

“Oh, no, no!” Baekhyun quickly shook his head. “I’m doing fine with Transfiguration. There’s just something else…”

“Oh.” Kyungsoo lowered his gaze back to the textbook before him, biting his lip and rolling his quill between his fingers.

Baekhyun hesitated. He didn’t know if Kyungsoo would care to hear about the mystery person who sent him his favorite snacks every week. However, after a few seconds of contemplation, Baekhyun shrugged and decided that it couldn’t hurt.

“I’ve been getting a package from someone I don’t know every week,” Baekhyun started, pleased to see that Kyungsoo had looked up from his notes and was paying attention. “The packages always contain my favorite snacks. I asked Chanyeol about them, and he told me that the person sending them apparently has a crush on me.”

He paused there for a moment, watching Kyungsoo for a reaction. The Slytherin was staring off into the distance and nodding slowly as he digested Baekhyun’s words.

“I’ve been trying to figure out who it could be,” Baekhyun continued, “but no luck.”

“If the person doesn’t want you to know who they are, then maybe you should just let it go,” Kyungsoo suggested, scribbling something down on his notes.

“But Soo,” Baekhyun whined, “I wanna know who it is!”

Kyungsoo shrugged. “Sounds like a you problem to me.”

Baekhyun sighed. “Okay, okay, but can you at least help me a little?”

“Help you how?”

“You hang out with Chanyeol a lot, right? Do you know which of his friends are the shy type who could strangle someone if they really wanted to?”

Kyungsoo stared at him with an unreadable expression. “Jongin,” he finally said after a long pause.

“I already asked Jongin.”

“Then I wouldn’t know,” Kyungsoo said, “Jongdae isn’t shy, and Sehun isn’t the type to strangle anyone.”

Baekhyun grumbled in disappointment and turned back to his schoolwork, not noticing that Kyungsoo had become quieter than usual.

After a month of no progress, Baekhyun finally gave up on his search. Instead, he pouted at Meokmul whenever the owl delivered a supply of snacks and sullenly munched on the food as he took study breaks. Even Chanyeol wasn’t laughing at him anymore and was now shooting him half-exasperated, half-pitying looks.

It wasn’t until late October that Sehun approached him out of nowhere with a mischievous smile that turned his eyes into little crescents.

“Baek-hyung,” he said, voice tight with barely contained amusement, “I heard you were having some trouble with a secret admirer.”

Baekhyun pouted. “Are you here to make fun of your hyung or are you here to offer me a hint?”

Sehun’s broad shoulders shook in silent laughter. “I’ll give you a hint if you buy me a butterbeer,” he bargained.

It was the easiest deal Sehun had ever offered him, so Baekhyun didn’t hesitate to pull out some change from his pocket and hand it to Sehun, who took the money with a triumphant grin and said, “You should go for a walk, hyung. All this studying can’t be good for you. The lake looks nice today.”

Before Baekhyun could say anything else, Sehun turned and sauntered off.

Knowing Sehun, it could have just been a prank, but Baekhyun still found himself packing up his books and hurrying out of the library. He needed to get to the lake before whatever was there disappeared.

In retrospect, Baekhyun should have been able to figure it out himself. Out of Chanyeol’s male friends, there was one that he never thought of considering, probably because he wasn’t as familiar with this person as he was with Jongdae, Jongin, and Sehun. Therefore, when he arrived at the lake and saw two figures that he knew very well, he had to stop and breathe for a moment to recover from the disbelief.

Once the emotions had calmed slightly, Baekhyun realized that he wasn’t angry. A little upset and resentful, perhaps, but he knew that the person he was looking at was shy and definitely wasn’t the type who would approach him and ask him out. However, that didn’t mean Baekhyun would forgive him so easily. He should put his acting skills to use and get a little revenge.

He took a deep breath and schooled his expression into a stormy one before stomping forward and calling, “Do Kyungsoo!”

Satisfaction swept through him when he saw Kyungsoo jump and turn to stare at him with wide, guilty eyes.

Baekhyun stalked up to Kyungsoo, carefully maintaining his façade of anger. “You liar! I can’t believe you!” he said once he stood in front of the Slytherin, “You told me that you had no idea who was sending the snacks!”

Kyungsoo shuffled his feet, tugging at the sleeves of his robes as he gaped at Baekhyun. On his shoulder, Meokmul fluttered its wings and let out a small hoot.

A nervous Kyungsoo wasn’t a sight Baekhyun saw every day since the Slytherin was always so quiet and calm during their study sessions, and Baekhyun was soft-hearted, so he dropped his act, reaching out to grasp Kyungsoo’s arm.

“Okay, okay, I’m just messing with you,” Baekhyun confessed, taking the hard edge out of his voice as he tugged on Kyungsoo’s arm with a pout. “How come you didn’t just say that it was you sending me those snacks back in the library? Was it because you were shy?”

Kyungsoo nodded, still a little tense as he refused to look Baekhyun in the eye.

“I wish you could have just given me the snacks directly though,” Baekhyun complained as he rubbed Kyungsoo’s arm comfortingly. “Your owl – Meokmul, right? – bit my finger once.” He held up his finger for Kyungsoo to see. “Look! I bet you can still see a mark.”

Finally, Kyungsoo relaxed, letting out a little laugh at Baekhyun’s antics. “Chanyeol told me that you tried to grab Meokmul.”

“Chanyeol’s a lying liar.”

They fell silent after that, and Baekhyun realized that at some point, he had draped himself over Kyungsoo, hugging the other from behind. Clearing his throat, Baekhyun awkwardly released Kyungsoo and took a step back. They needed to decide where their relationship stood.

Despite being one of the chattiest people in Hogwarts, Baekhyun found himself speechless in this situation. He curled and uncurled his fingers, trying to think of a way to broach the issue without sounding like an idiot.

“So, uh,” he started, speaking as slowly as he could to buy himself time to think. “You…have a crush on me?”

He wanted to slap himself right after he said that. It was obvious that Kyungsoo had a crush on him; he didn’t need to state it out loud. He probably killed Kyungsoo’s crush right then and there with that sentence!

To Baekhyun’s credit, Kyungsoo didn’t run away screaming. Instead, the Slytherin nodded twice in response, watching Baekhyun flounder with an unreadable expression.

A chuckle slipped past Baekhyun’s lips, and he ran his fingers through his hair. “I really don’t know how to do this,” he admitted.

Kyungsoo laughed again, lips pulling back to reveal his teeth. “It’s okay. I don’t either. I mean, I just asked Chanyeol which snacks you liked and made Meokmul send them to you every week.” Meokmul made a noise and leaned over to nip Kyungsoo’s ear.

“So,” Baekhyun hesitated, “do you…maybe wanna date then?”

Kyungsoo didn’t say yes right away. “You don’t have to date me just because you feel obligated to,” the Slytherin said, “If you want to reject me, then that’s perfectly fine. I can handle it.”

Baekhyun blinked. “Why would I feel obligated to date you?”

Kyungsoo paused. “For sending you snacks? Or giving you a copy of my brother’s Transfiguration notes?”

If Baekhyun was being honest, neither of those topics had been on his mind when he had suggested dating. “Okay, I actually wasn’t thinking about those when I asked you out,” he admitted, “I actually…well, I’m actually willing to give us a try because nobody has actually tried confessing by trying to take care of me. It’s…” He struggled for a moment with finding the right word. “…refreshing, you know what I mean?”

Again, Kyungsoo nodded. “So then…are we dating now?”

“Well, if you want to, then yes,” Baekhyun said, “You want to, right?”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo confirmed, “Do you want to?”

Baekhyun nodded eagerly. “Then we’re dating.”

The two of them smiled at each other, still feeling the awkwardness of their conversation surrounding them. However, the stiffness quickly dissipated under the sound of Sehun’s voice.

“Hyung, that was so awkward to watch!” the younger Slytherin complained, “You two suck at confessions!”

Mortified, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo turned to see their friends sitting on the grass a few feet away. Sehun sat closest to them with the most judgmental expression Baekhyun had ever seen while Chanyeol rolled around on the ground next to him, face twisted in silent laughter. Jongin and Jongdae weren’t laughing, but they wore identical smiles of amusement as they watched the scene before them.

“Hey! You can’t – how long – you little – what?” Baekhyun spluttered.

At that, Jongin burst into laughter, clapping his hands like a seal as he rocked back and forth. “So…you have a crush on me?” he mimicked Baekhyun’s earlier words.

Jongdae joined in, looking like a fly as he imitated Baekhyun wringing his hands. “So…do you…maybe wanna date then?”

Baekhyun couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him as he approached Jongin and Jongdae, who quickly scrambled to their feet and darted out of reach. “Oh, come on! Why are you only bullying me?”

Sehun suddenly let out a squeal, and Baekhyun turned to see Kyungsoo pinching Sehun’s ear. He can tell that Kyungsoo isn’t pinching hard and that Sehun’s just being dramatic.

“Hyung, hyung!” Sehun squawked, one hand wrapped around Kyungsoo’s wrist. “You can’t do this to me! You know that if I hadn’t told Baek-hyung to come to the lake, then you would have just spent the rest of your life pining, right? I did you a favor, hyung; I don’t deserve this treatment!”

Kyungsoo’s expression softened at that, and he released Sehun before stalking over to Chanyeol. The tall Hufflepuff’s glee immediately transformed into a nervous fear, and he quickly got to his knees, clasping his hands together in a begging gesture. Unfortunately, it had no effect on Kyungsoo, who moved to stand behind Chanyeol and seized him in a chokehold. He didn’t let go until Chanyeol started patting his forearm. As Chanyeol slumped forward, struggling to recover his breath, Kyungsoo looked up and met Baekhyun’s gaze, and the two of them broke out into wide, toothy smiles.

The next time Baekhyun saw Meokmul, the black owl wasn’t carrying a package. Instead, Meokmul stuck out her leg, offering Baekhyun a letter from Kyungsoo. A little disappointed that there wasn’t a package of snacks this week, Baekhyun read the letter after feeding Meokmul a small bit of fish.

When Sunday rolled around, Baekhyun headed to the empty Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, where Kyungsoo had asked to meet for their study session instead of the library. As he pushed open the door, he saw Kyungsoo already sitting at a desk. On the desk next to his, there was a bag, and Baekhyun perked up to see the chocolate frogs through the plastic.

As Baekhyun opened the door fully and hurried to sit beside Kyungsoo, eagerly calling out ‘Kyungja!’ as he went, he figured that having to take the N.E.W.T. for Transfiguration wasn’t so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> [my curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/xAoneko) || [my twitter](https://twitter.com/xAoneko98)


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